Refrigerator



June24, 1941. RNEWMAN 2,247,063

REFRIGERATOR Filed April 24; 1940 Inventor- Delbert F. Newman,

H|'s Attorney.

. scription proceeds and Patented June 24, 1941,

- REFRIGERATOR Delbert F. Newman, Schenectady, to General Electric Company, a

New York N. Y., assignor corporation of Application' April 24, 1940, Serial No. 331,444

- 4 Claims.

ciated with therefrigeratedf compartments of refrigerators for coolingthe air therein and thereby 'the articles stored in the compartment.

The refrigerated compartment of a household refrigerator is usually maintained at an average temperature between 40 F. and 45 F. for general refrigeration purposes. An average temperature within this range may be maintainedin the refrigerated-compartment by the convection currents-of air set up or refrigerant evaporator located inthe upper portion of the refrigerated compartment. In the usual refrigerator, this result is obtained by maintaining the temperature of the surface of the evaporator considerably below 32 F., as, for example, 20 F. During operation of the refrigerator, and as the air is'cooled, a considerable amount of the moisture present in the air circulated in the refrigerated compartment is removed. Inasmuch as the evaporator surface presents the coldest surface in the refrigerated compartment, this moisture is deposited on the evaporator walls in the form of frost. When a door, especially whenhinged from the evaporator itself, is employed to close thefrontend of the evaporator, the accumulation of frost may eventually build up to such an extentthat operation of the door is obstructed; I

' Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide an improved arrangement of a cooling unit and a door therefor which is simple in construction, and in which the aforementioned obstructing action of'any frost accumulation on the cooling unit is minimized.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the following dethe features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention, I

be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1-is a fragmentary front elevational view of a household refrigerator having a refrigerated compartment provided with a cooling unit embodying the principles of my invention; Fig. 2 is an enlargedsectional view of the cooling unit and door therefor shown in Fig. 1, taken along the line 2-'2 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged view, partly in section, .of a detail of the cooling unit and door therefor shown in Figs. 1 and 2, taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. a

therein by a. cooling unit (c1. cz-sei In the drawing there is illustrated a refrigerator ID of the domestictype' having. thermally insulated walls. Access to the cooled compartment II is had through an opening II in the 5 front wall of the cabinet and in order to close the opening I have provided a thermally insu-' lated door l3 suitably hinged from the cabinet.

In order to cool the refrigerated compartment H, I have provided a cooling element or refrigerant evaporator M located in the upper portion of the refrigerated compartment. Inasmuch as the refrigerating system forms no part of my invention, it is believed unnecessary to illustrate the complete system and any suitable system to regulate the operation of such means, I may,

employ a control device including acontrol knob l5. 1

In order to maintain the temperature within the evaporator at aslow a point as possible for any given setting of the control knob, I close the rear end of the evaporator in any suitable manner and also close the front end of the evaporator by means of a. door [6-, thereby substantially eliminating circulation of air therethrough. The door is provided with 'a laterally extending portion, such as a reentrant flange ll extending around the marginal edge so constructed and arranged that the flange I1 is disposed closely adjacent the front edges iii of the evaporator, thereby minimizing the flow of air through theevaporator. The door may .be hinged to the evaporator in any suitable manner. I have illustrated the use ,of substantially U-shaped hinge pins having one leg 22 secured, as by welding, to a side wall of the evaptorator. The door is provided with apertured lugs 23 arranged to be pivotally supported on the legs 24 of the hinge pins, suitable stops 25 being provided on legs 24 properly to position the. door. The cooling element or evaporator may be formed in any desired fashion. In the drawing, there is illustrated an evaporator formed from two sheets of metal [9 and the former being corrugated in order'to provide refrigerant passages 2|. The sheets may be secured together in any desired fashion, as by folding theedge of one sheet over the edge of the other and brazing or welding.

In order to minimize the collection of frost at )the front edges of the evaporator, I-have provided means for conducting suflicient heat to 65 the aforementioned edges to hinder th a may be employed. Ihave provided but not illusthereof, the'door being lation of frost. To this end I form the door of material having relatively high heat conductive characteristics as comparedto the material'from.

which the evaporator is constructed. I have found that satisfactory results are obtained with an evaporator made of stainless steel, a material of relatively poor heat conducting characteristics, and a door fashioned from aluminum, a relatively good conductor of heat.

i The relatively warm box air circulates in contact with door IS. Some of the heat transferred thereto is conducted to the flange I1 and the front edges l8 of the evaporator since the flange I1 is arranged in relatively good thermal association therewith. I have found that over the range of temperatures normally employed in the operation of domestic refrigerators, sufllcient heat is conducted to the evaporator edge substantially to prevent the accumulation of ice on the evaporator adjacent the door.

It is not necessary that the flange I! actually contact the edges l8 because any gap thereb'etween will become bridged by frost and as soon as the frost reaches the flange the relatively warm door becomes effective to thereafter limit any further frost formation.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, I do not desire my invention to be limited to the particular construction shown ,and described, and I intend in the appended claims'to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of my invention;

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a refrigerator cabinet, a cooling element, said element being provided with an opening at the front thereof, a closure member constructed and arranged for closing said opening, a portion of said member being so arranged that \when said member is in the closed position said portion is disposed in a relatively good thermal association with the .edgesof said opening, said member being formed from a material having relatively high heat conducting characteristics as compared to the material from which said element is formed whereby heat' transferred to the member from the air circulating thereacross is transmitted to said portion for the accumulation of frost adjacent said edges.

2. In a refrigerator cabinet, a cooling element, said element being provided with an opening at the front thereof, a closure member constructed and arranged for closing said opening, said mem- 'ber being provided with a laterally extending portion, said portion being so constructed and arranged as to be positioned adjacent the edges of said opening when the member isin its closed position, said closure member being formed from a material having relatively high heat conducting characteristics as compared to the material from which said element is formed whereby heat transferred to the door from the air circulating there,- across is transmitted to said portion forminimizing the accumulation of frost adjacent said edges.

3. In a refrigerator cabinet, a cooling element, said element being provided with an opening at the front thereof, a closure member constructed and arranged for closing said opening, the marginal edge of said member being provided with a re-entrant flange, said flangebeing constructed and arranged to be positioned adjacent the edges of said opening in the closed position of said door, said evaporator being formed of a material having relatively low heat conducting characteristics and said door being formed from a material having relatively high heat conducting characteristics whereby heat transferred to the door from the air circulating thereacross is transmitted to said flange for minimizing the accumulation of frost adjacent said edges. 4. In a refrigerator cabinet, a cooling element,

said element being provided with an opening at the front thereof, a closure member constructed and arranged for closing said opening, the marginal edge of said member being provided with a re-entrant flange, said flange being constructed and arranged to be positioned adjacent the edges of said opening in the closed position of said door, said evaporator beingformed of stainless steel and said door being formed of aluminum whereby heat transferred to the door from the air circulating thereacross is transmitted to said flange for minimizing the formation of host on the adjacent surfaces of said element.

nmnnar F. NEWMAN. 

